Yes, I know, I'm ripping off a Tim O'Brien title. Great book, by the way. The Things They Carried is well worth owning and reading.
Tonight, when Hope and I got home from working a CU v CSU game at the Pepsi Center, I realized my wallet was missing. We searched the car. We searched my clothing. We searched my ref bag. And when we finished, we started over.
This was a first. We never found it.
So I started walking backwards in my mind, trying to pinpoint the last time I had it. I had purchased a water and a few Gatoraids for my evening skate at a corner store in Golden. And that is where my memory ended. But after checking my voicemail at the office (business cards in my wallet) and then my email, I began to doubt that I had left my wallet at the store. I began to assume that it had fallen out of my vest pocket when I transferred into my suit outside the ice arena.
So I climbed in the car and began a midnight drive back to the parking lot where we had initially left our car. I say initially since Hope and Emiko dropped me off and then Hope took Emi home to put her to bed before returning to the rink.
I searched the rink lot and found nothing. I called security inside the ice arena to see if anything had been turned in and they said no.
I was at a loss. I climbed back in the car and began to leave the rink. As I pulled onto Speer Blvd, I noticed a strange lump in the road. So I looped around and tried to get a better look. The second loop was inconclusive so I looped again and as I pulled over the lump I opened my car door and sure enough, my wallet was in the middle of the street.
I opened it and found all my credit cards missing.
Not to jump to conclusions just yet, I looped one more time, found a parking space and walked up and down the both sides of the four lanes on Speer. I found my HSA debit card and nothing else.
I returned to my car and began calling the bank and my credit card companies. Discover was fantastic. So was Barclay's. But Wells Fargo? They wanted to know my last deposit. The last transaction. The banker didn't seem to understand that I use my debit card for everything, I didn't have those numbers in front of me to the very last penny. I had to return home, get online to see that info, and call at that point.
Grrr.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the worst part (no, no unauthorized transactions or cash stolen). The worst part was the loss of the little things I always carried with me.
Wallet: a gift from Hope now thoroughly ruined
License: still there though mildly crushed
USA hockey card: still there
CHL game credential: still there
Health Insurance card: a little worse for wear
Various food punch cards: beginning to sound a bit like George but there
HSA debit card: found on the side of the road intact
Aquarium membership : split in half but still there
Yeti business cards: crushed but still with me
LL Bean card: gone
Discover card: gone
Wells Fargo debit card: gone
Costco card: gone
Here is where I began to miss things....
King Soopers card: gone. I know. Just a club membership. But years ago, when I went to Florida to cut wood with Brad and Mac, I had cut the corner from this card to work as a guitar pick while I was visiting my friend Sheila in South Carolina. Every time I used my King Soopers card, I was reminded of the trip and my new and old friends.
Anthony's quote: gone. Written on a Yeti business card with his name on it. My fall back quote that I rely on so much that I always kept close at hand. You may remember this post....
Fibby's quote: gone. Another quote I would look at when I needed a reminder.
Judd Mortimer quote: gone. A quote I have carried on a care-worn piece of paper since some of my earliest days here in Colorado. A quote I cannot seem to recollect at this hour. A quote that I will have to spend some time pondering and remembering.
And that's really what they all are. These things I now am missing. Simply memories, reminders and guides for my spirit when times are low. Part of me says it may be time to find new ones and to let go of the old though they have served me so well over the years.
That's all for tonight...it is way too late at night for any real coherency.
Tonight, when Hope and I got home from working a CU v CSU game at the Pepsi Center, I realized my wallet was missing. We searched the car. We searched my clothing. We searched my ref bag. And when we finished, we started over.
This was a first. We never found it.
So I started walking backwards in my mind, trying to pinpoint the last time I had it. I had purchased a water and a few Gatoraids for my evening skate at a corner store in Golden. And that is where my memory ended. But after checking my voicemail at the office (business cards in my wallet) and then my email, I began to doubt that I had left my wallet at the store. I began to assume that it had fallen out of my vest pocket when I transferred into my suit outside the ice arena.
So I climbed in the car and began a midnight drive back to the parking lot where we had initially left our car. I say initially since Hope and Emiko dropped me off and then Hope took Emi home to put her to bed before returning to the rink.
I searched the rink lot and found nothing. I called security inside the ice arena to see if anything had been turned in and they said no.
I was at a loss. I climbed back in the car and began to leave the rink. As I pulled onto Speer Blvd, I noticed a strange lump in the road. So I looped around and tried to get a better look. The second loop was inconclusive so I looped again and as I pulled over the lump I opened my car door and sure enough, my wallet was in the middle of the street.
I opened it and found all my credit cards missing.
Not to jump to conclusions just yet, I looped one more time, found a parking space and walked up and down the both sides of the four lanes on Speer. I found my HSA debit card and nothing else.
I returned to my car and began calling the bank and my credit card companies. Discover was fantastic. So was Barclay's. But Wells Fargo? They wanted to know my last deposit. The last transaction. The banker didn't seem to understand that I use my debit card for everything, I didn't have those numbers in front of me to the very last penny. I had to return home, get online to see that info, and call at that point.
Grrr.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the worst part (no, no unauthorized transactions or cash stolen). The worst part was the loss of the little things I always carried with me.
Wallet: a gift from Hope now thoroughly ruined
License: still there though mildly crushed
USA hockey card: still there
CHL game credential: still there
Health Insurance card: a little worse for wear
Various food punch cards: beginning to sound a bit like George but there
HSA debit card: found on the side of the road intact
Aquarium membership : split in half but still there
Yeti business cards: crushed but still with me
LL Bean card: gone
Discover card: gone
Wells Fargo debit card: gone
Costco card: gone
Here is where I began to miss things....
King Soopers card: gone. I know. Just a club membership. But years ago, when I went to Florida to cut wood with Brad and Mac, I had cut the corner from this card to work as a guitar pick while I was visiting my friend Sheila in South Carolina. Every time I used my King Soopers card, I was reminded of the trip and my new and old friends.
Anthony's quote: gone. Written on a Yeti business card with his name on it. My fall back quote that I rely on so much that I always kept close at hand. You may remember this post....
Fibby's quote: gone. Another quote I would look at when I needed a reminder.
Judd Mortimer quote: gone. A quote I have carried on a care-worn piece of paper since some of my earliest days here in Colorado. A quote I cannot seem to recollect at this hour. A quote that I will have to spend some time pondering and remembering.
And that's really what they all are. These things I now am missing. Simply memories, reminders and guides for my spirit when times are low. Part of me says it may be time to find new ones and to let go of the old though they have served me so well over the years.
That's all for tonight...it is way too late at night for any real coherency.
